Tag Archives: causation

Feeling a little lonely? Want to be in a relationship? Then join Match.com because you are 3X more likely to find a relationship if you do. Because, clearly, they are a much better program than any other dating program out there. Click on the image to watch their commercial and see for yourself.

But just hearing that “3X more” phrase makes me think:

Does their system have three times as many people signed up?

Are they comparing themselves to people who are using a crappy dating service?

Are they comparing themselves to people who aren’t using a dating service at all?

Have they considered that people who sign up for a service are more serious about finding a relationship?

The ad implies a causal link but there are so many correlational links that all I can do is completely discount the commercial.

I’m a big fan of dating services but not if they’re going to mess with statistics. Just as nobody puts baby in a corner, NOBODY messes with statistics.

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It’s true. I read it in today’s newspaper. The article clearly stated that people are more likely to drown on hot days. Which obviously means that:

People forget how to swim on hot days

It’s more difficult to swim on hot days

It’s harder to hold your breath on hot days

People are less buoyant on hot days

No one drowns on cold days

Of course, the article did fail to mention a few things. That people go in the water more often on hot days. That more people go in the water on hot days. Perhaps even that people are less likely to wear life jackets on hot days because “i’m just going in for a second.”

The media is fabulous at taking correlational relationships and presenting them as causation. Don’t be fooled. And wear a life jacket.

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It’s probably safe to assume that every single research report you’ve ever written has been followed up with a single word – why.

Why did this result happen? Why did people give this answer? Why is this the winning option?

It’s easy enough to read through any report and be faced with lots of interesting questions. I can usually think of three or four contradictory answers for every question coming out of a report. And I can usually make any of them match up with the data. Data in, preferred answer out. Want an insight? I’ll make one up for you.

But which why is the right why? The problem is simple. Market research is rarely designed to answer the question why. Market research is usually designed to measure what. Surveys tell us what. Focus groups tell us what. Social media research tells you what. You see, even when you outright ask people to tell you why, you’re usually getting a why that has been massively skewed by deceiving memories and a variety of life experience. That’s not why.

Most market research is only designed to discover correlations which, I shouldn’t have to tell you, aren’t causation. Just because someone says they buy six cans of beans each week and they have six kids and they tell us they buy six cans because they have six kids does not mean that they buy six cans of beans because they have six kids.

The only way to measure whyis with test control research. In the strictest sense, you must randomly create families with random numbers of random children. Randomly assign people to random families such that some of the families are two kid families while others are six or three kid families. Now you’ve got the correct conditions to observe whether families with more kids do indeed buy more beans. And then you’ll legitimately be able to say that having six kids causes families to buy six cans.

So until we can randomly assign people to families, to product offerings, to price differences, to political candidates, and more, we’re stuck with correlational results.

Just like that news article, misunderstandings about correlation and causation are rampant. We all know that correlations reflect things that tend to occur together whereas causation reflects one thing that makes the other thing happen. Well bah humbug. Enjoy these “correlations.”

Do a quick search on Twitter or Google and you’ll instantly find 412 653 ways to encourage people to engage more with your product. Reply to people, ask questions, use polls, give a call to action, request videos and photos, give them user accounts. The list goes on and on.

Why do we do this? Because research says that when users are more engaged with something, they spend more money on it. And we all like money.

But wait. Something i paid little attention to in my introductory statistics class is nagging me. It’s telling me not to leap to assumptions. It’s telling me that just because someone spends more time on something does not mean they will consequently spend more money on something. It’s telling me that correlation does not equal causation.

You see, people who are more engaged with something, a website, a shoe company, a kitchen supply shop are already invested in it, more than people who are less engaged with something. These people are more engaged because they like the company. They buy the product because they like the company. They do not buy the product because they are engaged with the company.

It’s very easy to forget the direction of relationships among variables. Sure, you can convince a bunch of people to become more engaged, and sure some of them will grow to like the company, and sure some of them will make a purchase. But don’t fool yourself into thinking you can get a bunch of vegetarians to eat bacon by convincing them to create a user profile on your bacon website and share bacon recipes with them. The common denominator isn’t engagement. It’s the bacon. It’s always the bacon.

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Hi and welcome!

I'm a market research methodologist who blogs about sampling, surveys, statistics, charts, and more. My goal is to keep research real, current, and fun. I approve and post every single comment that makes it through my spam filter, usually within 24 hours.

I am the Editor-In-Chief of MRIA's Vue magazine, Canada's market research magazine. If you'd like to be an author, I'd love to publish your article. Release your inner expert!